Lead Full Stack Engineer

Requisition Number: 2369777
Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health optimization on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
Primary Responsibilities
AI Solution Engineering & AIDLC• Lead end-to-end implementation of AI solutions following AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC) principles.• Translate business requirements into scalable AI-powered products and applications.• Design, develop, evaluate, deploy, monitor, and continuously improve AI solutions throughout their lifecycle.• Build production-ready AI applications with a strong focus on usability, performance, security, and adoption.• Partner with Applied Scientists, Data Scientists, and Product Teams to operationalize AI innovations.
Full Stack Application Development• Architect and develop modern full-stack applications using React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, and Python.• Build responsive, accessible, and high-performance user interfaces leveraging modern frontend engineering practices.• Develop reusable component libraries, design patterns, and scalable UI frameworks.• Implement Backend-for-Frontend (BFF) architectures, REST APIs, GraphQL services, and microservices-based applications.• Build real-time experiences using WebSockets, Server-Sent Events (SSE), and event-driven architectures.
AI/ML & Generative AI Development• Build and integrate AI/ML capabilities into enterprise applications and business workflows.• Develop solutions utilizing:
o Machine Learning and Deep Learning models
o Large Language Models (LLMs)
o Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
o Vector Search and Semantic Retrieval
o Prompt Engineering
o Agentic AI Workflows• Design and implement AI copilots, conversational interfaces, intelligent assistants, recommendation engines, and automation solutions.• Collaborate on model integration, inference services, evaluation frameworks, and AI quality improvements.
Platform Engineering & Production Readiness• Build scalable backend services supporting AI inference, orchestration, and enterprise integrations.• Design distributed and cloud-native architectures supporting high-volume workloads.• Implement MLOps, LLMOps, and Agentic Ops practices for deployment, monitoring, governance, and lifecycle management.• Establish observability through logging, monitoring, tracing, alerting, and operational telemetry.• Optimize applications and AI workloads for latency, scalability, reliability, and cost efficiency.
Security, Governance & Engineering Excellence• Ensure secure application development using OAuth, SSO, RBAC, encryption, and enterprise security controls.• Implement Responsible AI, governance, compliance, and operational risk management practices.• Drive engineering standards, code quality, testing strategies, architecture reviews, and technical governance.• Mentor engineers and promote modern software engineering and AI engineering best practices.• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, or related field; Master's degree preferred.• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, AI/ML engineering, or full-stack application development.• Strong background in AI/ML engineering and enterprise AI solution delivery.• Proven experience developing full-stack applications using React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, and modern frontend frameworks.• Experience building production-grade AI applications integrating:
o Machine Learning Models
o Large Language Models (LLMs)
o Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
o Agentic AI Workflows
o Semantic Search• Proficiency in Python and backend frameworks such as FastAPI, Flask, or Django.• Experience designing APIs, microservices, BFF architectures, and distributed systems.• Strong understanding of AI Development Lifecycle (AIDLC), software development lifecycle, and production engineering practices.• Experience implementing MLOps, LLMOps, CI/CD, monitoring, and deployment automation.• Cloud-native development experience on Azure, AWS, or GCP.• Strong understanding of application security, observability, reliability, and performance optimization.• Proven ability to lead engineering initiatives and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
Preferred Qualifications• Experience developing enterprise AI copilots, conversational AI applications, and intelligent automation solutions.• Hands-on experience with LangChain, LangGraph, Semantic Kernel, LlamaIndex, AutoGen, CrewAI, or similar AI frameworks.• Experience with vector databases and semantic retrieval platforms including Pinecone, Weaviate, ChromaDB, pgvector, Azure AI Search, or equivalent technologies.• Experience with Databricks, Snowflake, Kafka, Spark, and modern enterprise data platforms.• Experience building reusable UI platforms, component libraries, and design systems.• Expertise in frontend performance optimization, accessibility standards (WCAG), SSR/ISR patterns, and responsive design.• Experience developing event-driven and real-time applications.• Familiarity with Kubernetes, Docker, Infrastructure-as-Code, and cloud-native deployment practices.• Experience leading technical design reviews, mentoring engineers, and driving enterprise engineering standards.
Builder Responsibilities:
Design, develop, and deploy AI-powered solutions using no-code, low-code, and advanced platforms, translating business needs into scalable applications that enhance products, workflows, and decision-making.
At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone - of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income - deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.
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